The Republic of Latvia is a parliamentary state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe
neighbouring Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia. Latvia is a member of the
European Union (since 1 May 2004), United Nations (since 17 September 1991),
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (since 10 September 1991),
Council of Europe (since 10 February 1995), World Trade Organisation (since 10
February 1999), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (since 29 March 2004).

Historically, Latvian
territory has been ruled by different foreign powers, including German,
Swedish, Danish, Polish, and Russian. The independent Republic of Latvia was founded on 18 November 1918 when Latvia declared its sovereignty and started to
develop its legal order, belonging to the continental (Romano-Germanic) law system.
Development of Latvian law was significantly influenced by German (and
subsequently, Roman) law, especially in areas of civil and constitutional law. The
Constitution (“Satversme”) was drafted using the Weimar Constitution,
constitutions of German states, and the Constitution of France as primary
models. The Constitution was adopted in 1922, thus making it the oldest
Constitution among the three Baltic countries.

After the World War II
and the subsequent occupation by the Soviet Union, Latvia fell under the Soviet
law system for the next decades. On 4 May 1990, Latvia re-established the name of the Republic of Latvia, thus beginning the restoration of
full sovereignty and return to the continental law system. During the
transition period, Latvia re-established the Constitution of 1922 and the Civil
Law of 1938, gradually replaced the Soviet laws with new legal acts, and
reformed the state administration. Shortly after regaining independence, Latvia set an objective to join the European Union. In order to meet the accession
criteria, starting from 1996 Latvia harmonized its legal acts with acquis
communautaire and promoted democracy and rule of law. This process
successfully concluded with Latvia’s accession to the EU in 2004.

In practice, the most
important source of law in Latvia is legal acts, which can be divided into two
categories: external and internal. External legal acts are universally binding;
the main types of external legal acts are laws (s. likums, pl. likumi),
regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers (Ministru Kabineta noteikumi),
and binding regulations of local authorities (pasvaldibu saistosie noteikumi).
Internal legal acts, on the contrary, bind only the issuing state institution. Examples
of internal legal acts are statutes, instructions, and recommendations.

The publishing and
enactment of legal acts is regulated by the Law on Publications and Legal
Information (“Oficiālo publikāciju un tiesiskās informācijas likums”, adopted
on 31 May 2012). The law states that legal acts and official
announcements are published electronically on www.vestnesis.lv.

This hierarchy is defined
in the Law on Publications and Legal Information (“Oficiālo publikāciju un
tiesiskās informācijas likums”), but two other laws describe the hierarchical
order as well: theConstitutional Court Law (“Satversmes tiesas
likums”) and the Administrative Procedure Law (“Administratīvā procesa
likums”).

International and EU law
norms are applied in accordance with their ranking in the hierarchy of external
regulatory enactments. In case of conflict between a Latvian and
international/EU law norm of the same legal force, the international/EU law
norm must be applied.

According to the Latvian Constitution, Latvia is a parliamentary democracy where the highest legislative power belongs to the
Latvian nation (full-fledged citizens of both sexes of at least 18 years of
age). The nation, by voting, has the highest legislature powers over some of
the issues set by the Constitution (e.g., release of the Parliament proposed by
the State president). Only the nation has a right to decide on state
independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democratic state order.

By general, equal,
direct, secret, proportional voting, the citizens of Latvia elect the Parliament (“Saeima”).
The parliament of Latvia consists of 100 MPs. Parliament is elected for
four years and any citizen starting from age of 21 can be elected. The
Parliament is the highest legislator and it adopts state budget. The
legislative power is also balanced with the judicial power since the Parliament
approves all judges of Latvia.

The Parliament of Latvia elects a President . The
president is elected for four years and any citizen of Latvia at least 40 years old can be elected to the post. The functions of the Latvian
president if compared to other states are quite limited. The president is more
like a representative person than a decision maker. Nevertheless, the state
president has rights to initiate a law and to grant a pardon. The president appoints
diplomatic representatives of Latvia. He/she is the commander-in-chief of the
Latvian army in peacetime. The President proclaims laws passed by the Saeima
and may require the parliament to reconsider a law. Laws come into force
fourteen days after their proclamation unless a different term has been
specified in the particular law.

The highest executive
power of Latvia lies with the Cabinet of Ministers, which is
formed by a person entrusted by the President. The Prime minister candidate
forms the rest of the Cabinet. When the Cabinet of Ministers has been formed,
the Parliament has a vote of confidence. If the voting is positive, the person
who has been entrusted to form the Cabinet becomes the Prime Minister.

State institutions are
subject to the authority of the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Cabinet and
individual ministers may issue instructions binding to the subordinate institutions.
The Cabinet of Ministers has the rights of legislative initiative and may
submit draft laws to the Saeima. The Cabinet may also issue regulations when
such a right is stipulated in a particular law of if the particular matter has
not been regulated by law.

The Supreme Courtconsists of
the Senate and two court chambers – the Chamber of Civil Cases and the Chamber
of Criminal Cases. The chambers are appeal bodies for cases that have been
decided by the regional courts as the court of first instance.

The Senate is comprised
of 3 departments: the Department of Civil Cases, the Department of Criminal
Cases and the Department of Administrative Cases. The Senate is the highest
court instance in Latvia and its judgments cannot be appealed. The Senate reviews
cassation complaints and cassation protests on rulings of regional courts in
cases reviewed under the procedure of appeal as well as on rulings of the court
chambers of the Supreme Court. The Senate is also the first instance in cases
on decisions of the Central Elections Commission and decisions of the Minister
of Interior Affairs regarding persons included in the country’s blacklist. At
the Senate and the Chambers three judges, try the cases.

There are six regional
courts in Latvia. The regional court is a court of first instance for civil and
criminal cases that according to the law are within its competence. The
regional court is instance of appeal when administrative, criminal and civil
cases have been tried in the district (city) courts. In the appeal, three judges
try the case. Alongside regional courts, land registers exist, having a status
of a court institution. Land Registers contain inscriptions on immovable
property and rights relevant to immovable property.

There are 35 district
(city) courts in Latvia. District courts are the first instance for civil,
criminal and administrative cases as set by the law. Civil, criminal and
administrative cases with a few exceptions are tried by one judge. Particularly
complicated criminal and administrative cases can be tried by three judges.

Until 2004,
administrative cases were tried along with civil cases, but on 1 February 2004, administrative courts were added to the Latvian court system.
Administrative court system consists of three levels: the Administrative
District court, the Administrative Regional court, and the Administrative law
department within the Senate of the Latvian Supreme Court.

Besides the courts
mentioned, there is the Constitutional Court
of the Republic of Latvia. The Constitutional Court was established in 1996 by adopting the Constitutional
Court Law(adopted on 5 June 1996). The judges of the Constitutional Court are approved by the parliament. The candidacies of
three judges are suggested by at least 10 MPs, two others - by the suggestion
of the Cabinet of Ministers, and the remaining two - by the Supreme Court of
Latvia. The Constitutional Court of Latvia consists of seven judges and they
are appointed for 10 years.

As a member of the Bologna process, Latvia has reformed its education system to meet the objectives of the
Bologna Declaration and make the higher education comparable and compatible
with education systems in other European countries.

Legal education in Latvia consists of three cycles: bachelor, master, and doctor. Bachelor studies last 3 or
4 years depending on the programme (academic or professional), followed by
two-year master’s studies. Lawyer’s qualification is awarded only upon
successful completion of a professional master’s programme in law; a
prerequisite for undertaking master’s studies is a previous bachelor degree in
law. Only Latvian citizens with a lawyer’s qualification can become advocates,
notaries, bailiffs, prosecutors, and judges.

The ‘regulated
professions’ and requirements for recognition of foreign qualifications are
stipulated in the Law on Regulated Professions and Recognition of Professional
Qualification (“Par reglamentētajām profesijām un profesionālās kvalifikācijas
atzīšanu”, adopted on 20 June 2001). Recognition of foreign diplomas is
carried out by the Academic Information Centre.

According to the Law,
only two legal professions in Latvia are considered ‘regulated professions’:
sworn advocate and sworn advocate’s assistant.

Advocates from non-EU states may practice in Latvia in accordance with the international agreements on legal assistance binding to the Republic of Latvia.

Advocates from European Union Member States may
practice law in Latvia if they submit their registration certificate with the
competent authority of their home Member State to the Latvian Council of Sworn
Advocates. Detailed regulation of foreign advocates’ rights to practice in Latvia can be found in the Advocacy Law.

In Latvia, notaries are authorized to certify authenticity of documents and transactions,
administer inheritance cases, conduct divorce matters, and accept money,
securities and documents for storage. The professional activities of notaries
are regulated by the Notariate law (“Notariāta likums”, adopted on 1 June 1993).

Notaries are appointed by the Minister of
Justice and may hold the office until seventy years of age. Notaries act within
the regional courts and are considered state officials. Administrative and
control functions are carried out by the Council of Sworn Notaries.

All judges in Latvia are appointed by the Saeima. Only citizens of Latvia with flawless reputation can
be appointed as judges, but the specific criteria for becoming a judge differ
for each court instance. Judges of the district/city courts are initially
appointed for a term of 3 years. After this period of time, the Saeima either
confirms him/her in the office for an unlimited term of re-appoints the judge
for a period of two years. The judges of the regional courts and the Supreme Court
are appointed for an unlimited period of time. The judges of the district/city
courts and regional courts may hold their office till 65 years of age, whereas
the maximum age for holding office as a judge of the Supreme Court is 70 years.

The activity of bailiffs
in Latvia is regulated by the Law on Bailiffs (adopted on 24 October 2002). Bailiffs belong to the court system; they are registered with a
particular regional court of Latvia and are considered state officials.
Bailiffs are appointed for life and may remain in office till the age of 65,
with certain options of the office term being prolonged till the age of 70. The
number, regions and districts of activity are established by the Minister of
Justice. The bailiffs are also appointed by the Minister of Justice.
Administrative and control function is carried out by the Council of Sworn Bailiffs.

The professional
activities of prosecutors are regulated by the Office of the Prosecutor Law (“Prokuratūras
likums”, adopted on 2 June 1994). Prosecutors participate in all stages of
criminal investigation. The Prosecutor’s Office conducts pre-trial
investigations as well as supervises investigatory operations of other
institutions, initiates and conducts criminal prosecution, and supervises
enforcement of judgments. The Prosecutor’s Office is a unified, centralised
three-level institutional system managed by the Prosecutor General.

Official state
information and legal acts are published in the official gazette “Latvijas Vēstnesis”
(‘’The Herald of Latvia’, 1993-, published at least four times per week).
Starting from 1 January 2013, publishing of the printed gazette will be
discontinued, and legislation will be published only electronically.

Legal acts up to year
2010 were published also in “Latvijas Republikas Saeimas
un Ministru Kabineta Ziņotājs” (‘’The Bulletin of the Saeima and
the Cabinet of Ministers’’). The bulletin contained all laws, regulations,
decisions, official announcements, and information about state accession to
international agreements and conventions. Since 2012 the bulletin has been
renamed “Latvijas Republikas Saeimas Ziņotājs” (‘The Bulletin of the
Saeima’) and is published bi-monthly in electronic format only.

www.vestnesis.lv– homepage
of the official gazette “Latvijas Vestnesis”, publishes legal acts and
official information. Previously documents that were published
electronically had only informative value, but starting from 1 July 2012 , the electronic publication on www.vestnesis.lv is
considered official. Access to documents is free of charge; information is
published only in Latvian.

Likumi.lv – free
of charge legislation vortal maintained by the “Latvijas Vēstnesis”.
Provides access to legal acts and the Constitutional Court decisions.
Access to documents is free of charge; information is published only in
Latvian.

“Latvijas Republikas Saeimas Ziņotājs”(‘The Bulletin of Saeima’, published
bi-monthly) – legal acts adopted by the Latvian parliament and the Cabinet
of Ministers (free of charge, in Latvian).

NAIS–
commercial, fee-based based legislation information system. A
considerable part of the provided legal acts is available also in English.

The State
Language Centre ensures the
translation of Latvian legal acts into English and other EU languages.
Translations of legal acts can be found using the search screenon the Centre’s homepage. Alternatively, most of
the legal acts published on www.likumi.lv provide a link to the State Language Centre’s
translation.

Ministries’ homepages
usually provide translations of the most important legal acts in each sector.

Translated Latvian legal
acts are also available on NAIS, a fee-based commercial database.

Judgments of the Constitutional Court are published annually by “Tiesu namu aģentūra” (‘The Courthouse
Agency’) and cover court cases from 1997. From 1997 to 2004, the judgments
were published parallel in Latvian, Russian, and English, but subsequent
editions have been published only in Latvian.

Decisions of the Senate
of the Supreme Court of Latvia (“Latvijas Senāta spriedumi”) for
1918-1940 were published in 16 volumes during the pre-war period, 1919-1941.
This publication has a facsimile edition, 1997-1998, published by the Supreme
Court with the support of the August Loeber Foundation (ISBN 9984-616-00-2).

Current decisions of the
Supreme Court of Latvia starting with 1996 are published annually by the Latvian Judicial Training Center and from 2005 by the Courthouse Agency:

Latvian
Court Portal- information on
Latvian court system and judicial process, judgments of administrative
courts (since 2007), summaries of the Supreme Court judgments. All
decisions are available only in Latvian.

Procurement Monitoring
Bureau(in
Latvian only) - legal acts in the field of public procurement. Explanatory aid
on procurement procedure as well as samples of documents. Published
announcements on procurements and statistics.

State Language Centre (in Latvian
only) - monitors implementation of legal acts concerning the usage of state
language; provides translations of Latvian legislation into English as well as
translations of EU law and international agreements into Latvian. Translations
of Latvian legal acts can be found using the search screen on the Centre’s homepage; the Centre also maintains a searchable terminology database.

Juridicais
the main source for legal research on the internet related to Latvian legal
resources. Juridica is a legal information internet catalogue in Latvian and
English languages maintained by the Riga Graduate School of Law, which offers
annotated information on good quality Latvian, and world legal websites. The
catalogue is browsable or searchable by resource type, subjects, language, and
regions.

Sorainen,one of the leading business law firms in the Baltic
region, regularly publishes legal news, articles, and briefings on Latvian
legal environment in English. All publication can be found on Sorainen’s web
site under Publications.

Law Library of the Riga Graduate School of
Law – the only public
library specializing in law and accessible to any person interested in
law. Wide range of electronic databases and electronic catalogue with
the latest law books and analytical index of legal journal articles.

·Riga Graduate School of Law–LL.M in International and European Law,
Public International Law, Transborder Commercial Law, European Union Law and
Policy, Law and Finance; MA in Legal Linguistics; LL.B in Law and Business;
BA in Law and Diplomacy. Tuition exclusively in English.